My practicum site was in the Microbiology building on the third floor and it took place from May 28, 2023 - July 24, 2023. The lab was the Bacterial Pathogenesis Lab and this lab was a stream that was a part of the UMD’s FIRE Program.
I was notified about this internship opportunity through an email that was sent to me from the program, saying that any undergraduate student was eligible to apply for the internship. What motivated me the most to apply for this internship was that they didn’t take GPA into consideration. As a freshman, I struggled with my classes and this impacted my GPA. Finding out that there was an internship that didn’t look at my GPA was something that I knew I had to take advantage of. A piece of advice that I would give to current scholars freshman is to always check your Terpmail. The FIRE program tends to email about their internship opportunities and it is a great opportunity for hands-on work. Another piece of advice I would give is to look at the UMD research website. Simply type “UMD research opportunities” on Google and a link should say “Research and Internships” and that link will show every school, every department, and every opportunity that the university has. It’s a great way to find out what you might be interested in, and connect with whoever is in charge of the internship. In addition, I highly encourage everyone to send an email to whoever is in charge of an internship. This shows that you are interested and eager to learn. It displays an attitude that a lot of employers hold high in value. To those of you that are nervous to send out emails, don’t be. The worst someone can say is no. Even if they do, they might come back to you and offer an opportunity (happened to me)!
Since I worked in a lab, I performed a number of tasks. I performed tasks such as PCR. A PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), is a tool that amplifies DNA by making millions of copies. This was used by me when I was trying to find the proper annealing temperature of the DNA. I completed a DNPl digest which digested template DNA. Furthermore, I completed a Gel Purification which helped me to isolate the DNA I wanted to and cut it from the gel. I also performed tasks such as PNK and DNA Ligase which made my linear plasmid circular and a Bacterial Transformation which turned my plasmid into E.Coli. Lastly, I did a Plasmid Purification and DNA Sequencing. The Plasmid Purification cleaned up the plasmid, while the DNA sequencing confirmed if our sgRNA sequence had been properly inserted into the plasmid.
One thing that I learned is that cells use a number of ways to communicate with one another. At my internship, I learned that they used quorum sensing. This is when cells communicate with each other to keep track of the population in a specified area. It is highly used by bacteria cells when they realize they have populated an area too much. Depending on the population, the bacteria cells will send a certain signal. I have also learned how important it is to keep a lab journal while conducting experiments. Originally, I found it to be extremely annoying because the experiments that I would perform would take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours. To write about everything that happened in that span of time was sometimes very tedious to do. One time however, I had an experiment go wrong and I was keeping track of what I was doing in my lab notebook. This helped me to find my error and when I repeated my experiment, I was able to do it properly and get the correct results. Now, every time I conduct an experiment, I make sure to write down everything in my lab notebook in order to keep track of what I do.
This internship has caused me to modify my plans at College Park. Originally, my plan was to finish the Scholar’s Program and then try and become a part of a lab on campus. Now that I am also a part of the FIRE Program, I plan to stay with the program. This semester, I was made a Fire Peer Research Mentor (PRM) for the Gene Silencing program, and I plan to guide the students in that program with their research and experiments. This is not to say that I do not plan on finding a lab to work while here at university; that is still one of my main goals. However, being a part of the FIRE Program has given me the opportunity to hone my wet lab skills and take on a leadership role. For my post-bachelors plan, originally I was going to finish my undergrad, complete my masters’, and straight away complete my PhD. After being in labs for the past two years though, I want to complete my masters after my undergrad, and then spend a couple more years working in a lab before I decide to pursue my PhD. I say this because I feel that if I establish myself within a company, then that will help me with connections while I am completing my research. In addition, I will be able to get letters of recommendation from the company when I apply to a school that can testify on behalf regarding my performance.